Accounting Education and Practice Interactions in Developing Countries and the Role of Global Pressure: An Ethiopian Example

Abstract

This study examines the interaction of accounting education, practice and the state and illustrates how global pressure is shaping this interaction. Review of documentary sources and semi-structured interviews are used in a country case study of Ethiopia to examine this interaction using the lens of structuration theory. Findings show that accounting education, professional qualifications, and company law underpinning accounting practice have been 'imported' from different western countries in isolated initiatives. As a result, accounting education and practice were not aligned, which in turn attenuated the ability of the two to strengthen each other. In the last two decades, global pressure has been driving reforms in accounting practice and education. The results suggest that accounting education, practice, and their interaction in developing countries could be better understood by examining them from the perspective of global trends and the actions of global stakeholders. To the knowledge of the researchers, this is the first study to employ the lens of structuration theory to unravel the complex interaction of accounting education, accounting practice, and the state in the context of globalisation.